Archive for February, 2010

Lower Township’s Revaluation

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Sometimes a municipality in New Jersey actually shows foresight and at the same time saves itself a lot of money.  Such is the case recently in Lower Township, Cape May County.

The township completed a full-blown revaluation in 2007, raising the total value of all properties from $1.5 billion to $4.73 billion.  While the new figure was more in line with reality, it came at the time when the real estate market was in a deadfall.  Property values were dropping about a half percent per month.

A petition signed by 1,500 property owners against the new valuations put the township on notice to expect plenty of costly tax appeals.  It would also cause an imbalance in values, since those folks out of a total of 15,930 property owners in the town that didn’t bother to appeal would unfairly be picking up the new burden.

Township Tax Assessor Art Amonette undertook an in-house reval in 2009, which cost just $25,000 instead of the $1 million price tag associated with a full reval.  Smart thinking, big savings!

The completed revaluation shows that the value of the township did indeed decline, from the previous $4.73 billion down to $4.1 billion, a drop of about 15%.  About 15,500 properties had their values reduced, while another 400 saw increases.

The range of change had some properties dropping 30%, as opposed to a high of a 10% increase.  Anyone who’s value dropped more than 15% will see a lower tax bill.  A reduction less than 15% will see the owner’s tax bill increase accordingly.

So once again, the playing field appears to be leveled for Lower Township property owners.  Town officials being proactive was a wise decision all around.

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Our Blizzard Drama

Friday, February 12th, 2010

The big blizzard of February 5-6th, 2010 dumped about 22 inches of snow on Cape May County, New Jersey.  The wet, heavy snow paralyzed a peninsula that rarely receives more than 7 or 8 inches of snow in an entire winter.  February 9-10th, another blizzard blessed us with another half-foot of sleet/rain/snow mix.

While at one point in the first storm there were 80,000 people without electricity and roads were impassible, we had our own drama.  Yes, we also went 34 hours without power, unlike 4,000 less-fortunate that still don’t have power a week later.  But that’s not our story.

We saw Fluffy, our 11-year old long-haired orange & white neutered male cat, at the food bowl on the back porch Friday afternoon of the first storm.  It snowed through the night and all day Saturday and we never saw him or Rusty, his 11-year old and lifelong best buddy cat.  But, heck, it was whiteout conditions so who could blame them for not coming out from under the safety and security of our garden shed.

Sunday afternoon, as we shoveled out, a weary Rusty appeared.  We happily greeted him and quickly got him a bowl of catfood and a bowl of warm water.  But where was Fluffy, the chowhound of the pair?   That boy loves to eat.  It wasn’t like him to miss a meal.

By Monday, we were real concerned.  Rusty was acting strange, as he had on Sunday.  He was standoff-ish, even maybe afraid.  He seemed to be sending us a message:  Fluffy was dead.  We were despondent.

Tuesday afternoon the second storm hit.  Rusty had been around all morning and we assumed he sought out his sanctuary under the garden shed to sit out the storm.  But Wednesday Rusty never appeared.  We called and called for him, but no reply. 

By Thursday morning, we were beginning to figure that maybe Rusty was so upset over the death of Fluffy that he too had perished.  Kinda like an old couple where one dies, then the other goes a few days later.  After all, they were best of friends since they were kittens.  They were all they knew, the constant in their lives, along with us two humans.

Late Thursday morning we returned to our house and a couple minutes later Rusty appeared.  We were so relieved.  We petted him and fed him and loved him.  He loved us back.  It had been 48 hours since we’d seen him and that had never happened before.

And so Friday morning, as we settled into life with just one feline friend, a miracle happened.  Fluffy appeared.  It had been seven days.  We petted and petted him.  He reveled in the attention.  We quickly got him a bowl of catfood and twenty minutes later he still had his head in the bowl chowing.  Just like old times.

Our drama came to a fitting conclusion.  Fluffy and Rusty were back.  All was well.  And we appreciate them more than ever.

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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Feeding the Hungry in Cape May County

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

We just couldn’t stand by any longer and do nothing about the hunger and nutrition problem here in Cape May County, New Jersey.  It was time to act. 

In a county that has hundreds of multi-million dollar vacation homes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, there is a flip side to the coin.  Of 42,000 yearround families, nearly 4,000 households live under the poverty line ($22,050 for 4) and another 9,500 have social security as their sole source of income.  The unemployment rate is around 13%, and when you add in those who have basically given up ever finding gainful employment the jobless rate approaches 30%. 

As realtors, we get the opportunity to go into a lot of people’s homes every year.  In one home we had listed last year, we noticed that the five kids had different colored lips.  We soon discovered why.  The only food in the house was those frozen sugar-water ice pops that come in tear-away plastic tubes.  The refrigerator was empty except for condiments and the freezer was full of different flavored ice pops.  It’s sad.  In the homes of the elderly, we have seen them subsist on Saltine crackers the last days of the month.  They are proud and they don’t complain.

While so many have so much, these others have so little.

This month, we organized “The Free Meal Center” with a volunteer Board of Directors and incorporated as a New Jersey secular, non-profit, charitable organization.  By the way, the politically correct term nowadays is “meal center” and no longer is “soup kitchen”.  We found a 4,000 square foot former restaurant centrally located in the middle of the county on the main highway, Route 9, and negotiated a purchase price.  It has four dining rooms, four restrooms, a large kitchen area, and parking for 40 cars on the 2.2 acre property.  We will be able to seat 100 or more at a time.

We take possession of the building March 15 and hope to be up and running by Memorial Day.  We will serve lunch Monday through Saturday, plus breakfast on Saturday.  Meals will be free and open to anyone who walks through our doors.  We won’t even ask their names.  Our volunteers will treat everyone with respect and dignity.

The building does need a bit of work.  Part of the roof needs repairs, the interior needs painting, the bare kitchen needs equipment, and we need tables and chairs.  A few other repairs may become evident once we’re in the building, but its all no big deal.  We can do it.

We’ve undertaken becoming a 501(c)(3) tax deductible entity and expect to be approved in the spring.  Our website, http://www.TheFreeMealCenter.com should up on-line by next Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

If you’d like to help us help these less-fortunate folks, you can donate through our website next week, or mail a check to The Free Meal Center, PO Box 863, Cape May Court House, New Jersey  08210.  We’ll mail you back a tax deductible receipt.

Thanks for caring.

- Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ  08260    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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RIP New Jersey COAH

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

A New Jersey State Senate bill recently introduced would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), taking implementation of low and moderate income housing standards from the state and putting it in the hands of municipalities.  It’s about time.

COAH came into existence in the late 1970′s as a result of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mt. Laurel Decision, which basically said that municipalities cannot zone against low and moderate-income housing and must supply affordable housing.  COAH set quotas for each of the state’s 567 (now 566) municipalities.

The quota system was unfair to many municipalities, setting unrealistically high numbers for some towns.  Here in Cape May County, Middle Township is still required to offer 932 more affordable units by 2018 and Upper Township still owes over 500.  It’s unrealistic and puts a heavy burden on taxpayers, who must fund new schools and services to meet the demand of so many new residences.

Senate Bill S1, sponsored by Raymond Lesniak and Christopher Bateman, and its companion State Assembly bill A2057, would abolish COAH.  It would also do away with State-imposed calculations of affordable housing needs.  Instead, it would permit municipalities to determine their own needs.  The State Planning Commission would assist towns in facilitating opportunities for affordable housing.

The bill would require municipalities to re-examine their master plan and adopt an ordinance that provides an opportunity for an appropriate variety and choice of housing.  They must show that they have complied with their obligations under the Fair Housing Act.  Any municipality not enacting ordinances by December 31, 2011, would be required to have any developers set aside 20% of their project for low or moderate or work force housing.

What does all this mean?  COAH and its assigned numbers of affordable housing units will be put to rest.  But municipalities aren’t off the hook.  They must still offer affordable housing, but on their own terms, not Trenton’s.

-Mountain Man and City Girl    http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com

The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ    http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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